What to write in your notes after meeting someone: the five things to capture

After meeting someone, write down five things: who they are, how and where you met, what matters to them right now, one human detail, and the next step with a date. Do it within a minute of the conversation ending, by text or voice. Those five things are enough to write a personal follow-up tomorrow and to pick the relationship up again in six months. This post explains each one, with examples, a template, and what to leave out.

Why notes matter more than the contact details

Contact details are easy to find again. A name and company will usually lead you to an email address or a LinkedIn profile. What you cannot find again is the conversation: the problem they mentioned, the person they wanted to meet, the reason you promised to send something.

That context is what turns a cold follow-up into a warm one. "Good to meet you last night" is forgettable. "Good to meet you last night, and I hope the move to the new warehouse goes smoothly" shows you listened.

The five things

1. Who they are

• Full name, spelt correctly.
• Role, in plain words if the title is vague.
• Company, and the website if you know it.

Example: "Siobhan Kowalczyk, runs operations at Fenwick Logistics (fenwick-logistics.co.uk)."

If the spelling is unusual, check it at the time: "How do you spell your surname?" Getting a name right in the first follow-up matters.

2. How and where you met

• The type: an event, an introduction, an inbound enquiry, online.
• The specifics: the event name, the venue, or who introduced you.
• The date, if it is not today.

Example: "Met at the Manchester ops meetup, introduced by Priya."

This is the line that reminds them who you are ("we met at the ops meetup") and, over time, tells you which events and introducers are worth your time.

3. What matters to them right now

The most valuable line. What are they working on, worried about or trying to achieve?

Example: "Moving driver onboarding off spreadsheets before the spring peak. Frustrated with their current supplier."

Use their words where you can. If they said "a nightmare", write "a nightmare". It will make your follow-up sound like you listened.

4. One human detail

Something personal but professional that you can mention later: a recent holiday, a marathon they are training for, a book they recommended, a shared connection, their dog's name if they showed you a photo.

Example: "Just back from walking the Pennine Way. Recommended a podcast on running small teams."

This detail is what makes a message six months later feel natural: "How did the second half of the Pennine Way go?"

Keep it to what they chose to share, and keep it kind. If you would be embarrassed for them to read it, do not write it.

5. The next step and when

• What you agreed: send something, make an introduction, book a call.
• Who does it: you or them.
• When.

Example: "I send the onboarding case study by Thursday. Call the week after if it looks relevant."

If you agreed nothing, write that too: "No next step; good contact for the logistics network." A deliberate "no follow-up" is better than a vague intention.

A template you can copy

• Who: [Name], [role] at [company].
• Met: [event or introducer], [date].
• What matters: [their current priority or problem, in their words].
• Human detail: [one thing to remember them by].
• Next: [action], [who], [by when].

All five lines, written out:

• Who: Siobhan Kowalczyk, head of operations at Fenwick Logistics.
• Met: Manchester ops meetup, 22 October, intro from Priya.
• What matters: Moving driver onboarding off spreadsheets before spring. Unhappy with current supplier.
• Human detail: Just walked the Pennine Way.
• Next: I send the case study by Thursday.

The voice-note version

Typing that on a phone in a crowded room is unlikely to happen. Saying it takes about twenty seconds:

Siobhan Kowalczyk, that's K O W A L C Z Y K, head of operations at Fenwick Logistics. Met at the Manchester ops meetup through Priya. They're moving driver onboarding off spreadsheets before spring and they're not happy with their supplier. She's just walked the Pennine Way. I'm sending the case study by Thursday.

Say it in the same order every time, and it becomes a habit. Spell unusual names, and say dates as days.

Notes for different situations

The five things stay the same, but the emphasis shifts with how you met.

After an event conversation

Put the most weight on how you met and the human detail, because event conversations blur together fastest.

Ade Okoro, data lead at a housing charity. Met at the Bristol data meetup, sat next to each other in the talk on dashboards. They're rebuilding their reporting in the new year. Keen cyclist, rode to the venue in the rain. Send him the dashboard template on Monday.

After an introduction

Record who introduced you and why. You will want to thank the introducer and tell them how it went.

Marcus Bell, founder of a physio scheduling start-up. Intro from Hannah, who thought we should talk about hiring our first salespeople. Same stage as us. Call booked for Thursday; tell Hannah how it went afterwards.

After a call or a coffee

Put the most weight on what matters to them and the next step. A longer conversation usually means more detail is worth keeping, but keep it to what is relevant to your work together.

Elena Rossi, ops director at a property maintenance firm. Coffee near Kings Cross. Main issue: damp reports come in by phone and get lost. Wants a proposal for a pilot in two buildings, decision by end of January. I send the proposal by Friday.

After someone gets in touch with you

Note what prompted them to reach out. It tells you what is working.

Grace Hall, head of customer service at an online retailer. Contacted us after reading the blog post on hold times. Wants to talk about training for a team of 25. Call next Wednesday.

What not to write

• Opinions about appearance or personality. "Bit arrogant" or "very attractive" have no place in a CRM.
• Sensitive personal details. Health, religion, politics, sexuality and similar information are special category data under UK GDPR and need extra justification to hold.¹ If someone mentions their health in passing, you do not need to record it.
• Gossip about others. "Says their CEO is about to leave" can travel further than you think.
• Anything you would not want them to read. People can ask to see the personal data you hold about them, through a subject access request.² Write every note as if they might.

A simple test: would you be happy if the note was forwarded to them by mistake? If not, rewrite it.

When to write

Straight after the conversation, before the next one. Not at the end of the evening and not on the train home. By then the details from five conversations have merged into one.

If a minute between conversations is too much, capture the bare minimum (name, company, one line) and fill in the rest at your next break.

How Shmor helps

Shmor is built around this note. After you meet someone, send a voice note like the one above to Shmor on Telegram, or a photo of their card or badge with the five things as a caption. Shmor:

• creates or updates the person and company in ShmorCRM, Attio or HubSpot;
• sets Met via and Met at from what you said;
• writes the note in plain British English, with your original words or transcript underneath;
• creates the follow-up task with the date you gave.

If you left something out, such as how you met or when to follow up, its reply asks, and you can answer by tapping a button or replying in your own words. For what the AI does and does not read into your notes, see how Shmor's AI reads a screenshot or a voice note.